MellowDrama

Glitter and Gloss by Vibha Batra is funny, warm and endearing. Misha is a make up artist (whattay refreshing choice of a career for our heroine!)who is witty, hard-working and suffers (literally and figuratively both) from a huge mothering instinct. This very instinct is the cause that she ends up falling for Akshay Aggarwal a dishy, heir of a Marwari business family. Now please focus on the word Marwari. These families are largely rich, make that stinking rich- he sends her a Cavalli gown when she complains she has nothing to wear for an after work party- annnnd more importantly if you want to be expected into the fold then you need you to impress the entire community. Here we have Akshay's overprotective didi who parades Misha to ensure that she gets approved by all the aunties of the Marwari smaraajya in Mumbai. Misha's story is heartwarming because of the life that the author has managed to breathe into the character with her words. She is flawed yet endearing. Misha is e...

If you have grown up in a typical north Indian household like me then you would have seen women around you wearing suits. Not just the business kinds but the three piece garment consisting of a kameez/ kurta, a dupatta and a churidar/a salwar. Getting the cloth, going to a tailor ( over and over again) and getting the material designed and stitched has always occupied a major position there because those are, like I said, the everyday clothes worn by women all around, from my mother to the house help. They are worn to the functions- birthday parties, kitties and kirtans. Bollywood even sang a song to the suit wearing girl. But there is this one occasion where there isn't a chance for the suits or for any other garment to make an appearance. These are the shaadis, the weddings, the marriages where the silks, the pochampallys, the kanjivarams, the banarsis- read the heavy guns- put in an appearance like a chief guest at some sarkari function who soon after the initial formalitie...

The world that we live in today has become even more dynamic than it was till only a few years ago. There is an uncertainty in almost everything. But then us, human beings, have always come out as winners and on top of the chain by the sheer will power to sustain and by our ongoing efforts. This is what is of great importance to me- the effort. I firmly believe that those who start will finish.  It might take time and it might tax one’s faculties, but this constant pursuit, this effort making, to me is the essence of human evolution. This is the only way that we learn and carry forward. This is the only way we improve and this is the only way we excel. Not making an effort is certain death- death of dreams, ambitions and that very basic human urge to survive. -------------------- There are times when I find writings like this one in a nook or a cranny of my overstuffed, aged and blinking laptop. I am impressed at first with the force of the ideas like this one here- Not m...

Do you believe in supreme powers? Powers that govern us and all that happens around us? Do you believe that there is something that has the power to lift your spirits, make your hear soar and colour your day bright? If you do then we are on the same page. Let me tell you about something that makes me feel like a wonder woman, something that uplifts my mood as much grouchy as I might be feeling before that,  colours my day bright, makes my heart soar. You get the drift? Oh, chop chop then. Remember to be patient with me. Just yesterday my friend Ankita came over to borrow Netra's books for her son who is a year younger than Netra. Unfortunately for Ankita, she birthed another son a year and half ago. (Why unfortunate, you ask? Try staying in a room alone with one male toddler for more than 20 minutes and you will get your answer. She has two in her kitty.) So Ankita, the mother of two young boys, came and sat down. Then she heaved a sigh. This was a huge, big, I-am-soooo-rel...

Have you come across a book that made you think that you resemble a certain character in a book to a great extent? Or in parts the story reads like something familiar? Something you have lived through. Goodbye, Perfect could be that one book for us all. ************************************************ Sara Barnard's book *Goodbye, Perfect* is a contemporary Young Adult novel set in a small town in England . The story is framed around an incident that takes place on a Saturday morning when it is discovered that a high achieving 15 year old school girl Bonnie has run away with her music teacher. Her  best friend Eden knows nothing about it but no one believes her (after all she is THE BEST FRIEND) and she is left dealing with its repercussions and questioning her friendship and judgement about how she sees things, people and relationships. The characters here are complex like all of us. There are layers and nuances uncovering the people who exist under the cover of  these tw...

The first part of Orisha trilogy, Children of Blood and Bone by debutant author, 24 year old Tomi Adeyemi, who  has studied West African Culture and Mythology, is worthy of our time and effort that it takes to read through the 600 pages of this adventure. ********************************************************************** This is one of the very few books that I have read from the  # YA  category so I did not have much of an idea as to what to expect and so I dived right in soon after getting the book. The fact that I have always wanted to read African literature and never got much around to it, also prompted me to pick this book before a few others. Add to this, my interest in mythology and can imagine me rubbing my hands in glee as I started Children of Blood and Bone. First in the Orisha trilogy by debutant author Tomi Adeyemi (@tadeyemibooks ) the book starts off with a young girl looking forward to her graduation ceremony from a training school where an ...

The year has started on the right note. I have already read two authors whom I had not read before falling hard for the one being hailed as Japanese Steig Larrson- Keigo Hagashino. That is what got me thinking about new year resolutions  (I know we are done with the first quarter) which I haven't made in years. So here is a list of authors that I would like to sample this year. - 1. Manu Joseph 2. Pico Iyer 3. Anthony Horowitz 4. Margret Atwood 5. Toni Morrison 6. Chimamanda Adichie 7. Jo Nesbo 8. Neil Gaiman 9. Terry Pratchett 10. Alice Munro/  Walker But I also realise the futility of making a list like this as there are just so many authors, poets, writers and just so many works coming to fore everyday. A book group might help, you would think but let me tell you that it complicates things further. New recommendations, fantastic and not so fantastic reviews, pictures, blog posts and what not really makes matter well,complicated. All said and done, ...